2006 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report
We’re very pleased to provide you with this year's Annual Water Quality Report. We want to keep you informed about the excellent water and services we have delivered to you over the past year. Our goal is and always has been, to provide to you a safe and dependable supply of drinking water. Our water source is ground water from wells. The two wells draw from the Floridan Aquifer. Our water is obtained from ground water sources and is chlorinated for disinfection purposes.
"The Department of Environmental Protection has performed a Source Water Assessment on our system. These assessments were conducted to provide information about any potential sources of contamination in the vicinity of our wells. The assessment results are available on the FDEP Source Water Assessment and Protection Program website at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/swapp/selectcounty.asp
This report shows our water quality results and what they mean.
If you have any questions about this report or concerning your water utility, please contact Mr. Edmund Hudson at our office between the hours of 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday at 386-497-3345. We encourage our valued customers to be informed about their water utility.
Town of Fort White routinely monitors for contaminants in your drinking water according to Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations. Except where indicated otherwise, this report is based on the results of our monitoring for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2006. Data obtained before January 1, 2006, and presented in this report are from the most recent testing done in accordance with the laws, rules, and regulations.
In the table below, you may find unfamiliar terms and abbreviations. To help you better understand these terms we've provided the following definitions:
Maximum Contaminant Level or MCL: The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to the MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology.
Maximum Contaminant Level Goal or MCLG: The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety.
Action Level (AL): The concentration of a contaminant which, if exceeded, triggers treatment or other requirements that a water system must follow.
Treatment Technique (TT): A required process intended to reduce the level of a contaminant in drinking water.
Maximum residual disinfectant level or MRDL: The highest level of a disinfectant allowed in drinking water. There is convincing evidence that addition of a disinfectant is necessary for control of microbial contaminants.
Maximum residual disinfectant level goal or MRDLG: The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MRDLGs to not reflect the benefits of the use of disinfectants to control microbial contaminants.
Parts per million (ppm) or Milligrams per liter (mg/l) – one part by weight of analyte to 1 million parts by weight of the water sample.
Parts per billion (ppb) or Micrograms per liter (µg/l) – one part by weight of analyte to 1 billion parts by weight of the water sample.
Picocurie per liter (pCi/L) - measure of the radioactivity in water.
* Haloacetic acids (five) (HAA5): Some people who drink water containing haloacetic acids in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
** TTHMs [Total Trihalomethanes]. Some people who drink water containing trihalomethanes in excess of the MCL over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous systems, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.
Total Coliform: The Total Coliform Rule requires water systems to meet a stricter limit for coliform bacteria. Coliform bacteria are usually harmless, but their presence in water can be an indication of disease-causing bacteria. When coliform bacteria are found, special follow-up tests are done to determine if harmful bacteria are present in the water supply. If this limit is exceeded, the water supplier must notify the public by newspaper, television or radio. To comply with the stricter regulation, we have increased the average amount of chlorine in the distribution system.
We constantly monitor for various contaminants in the water supply to meet all regulatory requirements. Our water system was in violation of federal and state water quality standards for both HAA5 and TTHM in 2006. The levels of both contaminants are shown in the Test Results Table. Our system is currently evaluating several ways to reduce the levels of both contaminants in the water. Our latest project to get back to compliance was to replace the granular activated carbon filters in our treatment plant.
The sources of drinking water (both tap water and bottled water) include rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, reservoirs, springs, and wells. As water travels over the surface of the land or through the ground, it dissolves naturally occurring minerals and, in some cases, radioactive material, and can pick up substances resulting from the presence of animals or from human activity.
Contaminants that may be present in source water include:
(A) Microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, which may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.
(B) Inorganic contaminants, such as salts and metals, which can be naturally-occurring or result from urban stormwater runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharges, oil and gas production, mining, or farming.
(C) Pesticides and herbicides, which may come from a variety of sources such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses.
(D) Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals, which are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, and septic systems.
(E) Radioactive contaminants, which can be naturally occurring or be the result of oil and gas production and mining activities.
In order to ensure that tap water is safe to drink, the EPA prescribes regulations, which limit the amount of certain contaminants in water provided by public water systems. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations establish limits for contaminants in bottled water, which must provide the same protection for public health.
Drinking water, including bottled water, may reasonably be expected to contain at least small amounts of some contaminants. The presence of contaminants does not necessarily indicate that the water poses a health risk. More information about contaminants and potential health effects can be obtained by calling the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.
Some people may be more vulnerable to contaminants in drinking water than the general population. Immuno-compromised persons such as persons with cancer undergoing chemotherapy, persons who have undergone organ transplants, people with HIV/AIDS or other immune system disorders, some elderly, and infants can be particularly at risk from infections. These people should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers. EPA/CDC guidelines on appropriate means to lessen the risk of infection by Cryptosporidium and other microbiological contaminants are available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline (800-426-4791).
We at the Town of Fort White would like you to understand the efforts we make to continually improve the water treatment process and protect our water resources. We are committed to insuring the quality of your water. If you have any questions or concerns about the information provided, please feel free to call any of the numbers listed.
PLEASE CONSERVE WATER EVERY DROP COUNTS!
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